The Alaska high school team that’s so far north, it loses footballs in the Arctic Ocean

Sports Illustrated’s excellent Underdogs series, a run of mini-documentaries on high school football teams, travels to Barrow, Alaska, which Wikipedia calls the world’s 11th-northernmost public dwelling. It’s the United States’ northernmost town, meaning this will go down as the coldest football program ever.

Barrow’s unique geography means that the school contends with challenges no other high school team faces: The town located is so far north that the team must fly to every away game, and there’s only enough money in the budget to bring 19 players. The Whalers sleep on air mattresses in opponents’ gyms instead of in hotels. Their home field is so close to the Arctic Ocean that the team actually loses balls in the water during practice.

But those problems pale in comparison to the social issues in the area. Alaska has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the country, and alcoholism is rampant. Coach Brian Houston, a social worker, tries to use football to teach life lessons and prepare his players for college.

You should obviously watch it.